Sunday, September 07, 2008

Becoming locals---

This weekend was our first weekend staying home in Indiana. And our first without cable. (We're still holding out...)

On Friday night, we spent the evening watching a movie and grabbing some coffee. Things weren't looking too promising for an exciting weekend. On Saturday, I took part in a TurboKick class (with 5 people instead of 2 of us) and then Ken and I headed to the local farmer's market. To say we were impressed would be a serious understatement. We walked away with peaches aplenty, chicken salad and Polish rolls for lunch, a glorious onion, freshly ground coffee, and plans to be back next weekend. Our lunch was delicious... and then we had the whole rest of the day to fill. It was a beautiful day so we headed west and then north. Michigan was calling and we drove a bit up the lakeshore, stopping at a toy train store and we took a turn on the slowest go-karts ever allowed to circle a track. A sign for wineries led us into "Wine Country" and after a stop at Tabor Hill for a tasting and a glass of riesling with some rowdy bachelorettes, we headed to the Round Barn winery for margherita pizza and more riesling. I wasn't in any condition to drive and happy for that! We made our way back to South Bend, successfully avoiding Notre Dame traffic, had a delicious dinner, and then it was time for some Celtic music and some cider at the Fiddler's Hearth downtown. By the time we turned in, we were exhausted and happy with the effort.

Today, Ken headed home to go see the Avett Brothers perform again in Champaign. Since I'm working tomorrow, I needed to occupy another long day. I went to spinning class where I wanted to die for 45 minutes and then felt like going to buy a trophy after finishing. Then I sat while our refrigerator was fixed, made lunch, and headed out for shopping. Some clearance shoes and a sweater, one pumpkin spice latte, and six hours later, I'm back. Thankfully, I have a season of Desperate Housewives and The Office and a movie to get me through the night.

It was a pretty excellent weekend, all things considered. I think I can get used to this. My only complaints about our new home revolve around the radio stations (I hear En Vogue and Mony Mony on every drive) and the tremendously horrible roads/displays of driving. The job is going really well so far. My co-workers are much tamer than in Chicago but I'm so busy each day that I don't even have time to notice that no one is socializing or slapping each other or throwing things at each other. (Yep, our office was pretty laidback.) I spend my days doing a plethora of things, including doing website work, writing and designing makeshift brochures for new programs, talking to students, sending emails to students, packing boxes for college fairs, buying and setting up scanners, processing credit card charges, etc. I never know what will be on my plate next, but I know there's good wine around to go with it.